From institutional life to community participation : Ideas and realities concerning support to persons with intellectual disability

Abstract: The right for everyone with an intellectual disability in Sweden to participate in community life has led to the closure of residential institutions. To understand this issue three questions were formulated: 1) why did this occur, 2) which services provide the alternatives and 3) has this transition led to community participation? The origin of this transition was found in the normalization principle of 1946. A new socio-political idea marked the beginning of a gradual shift from institutionally to community based services. To realize the closure of residential institutions, services which offered extensive staffing and personal support had to be developed. The character of the welfare society has been the context for this transition. Empirical studies provide information about the ongoing development. One group of studies had the concept of community participation as basis for analysis. The ambition of the other group was to gain an understanding through the experiences of those concerned, primarily the persons, their families and staff. These studies show that participation in community life had been achieved for the persons but there were limitations as one did not fully avail of the new forms of support which had been created. The possibilities to achieve participation in community life is discussed as a matter of realizing a shift between two traditions of support.